Have you ever noticed how Canadian airlines really seem to like the Boeing 737?
As of early March 2022, there are at least 10 different airlines across the country that
fly one or more variants of this single-aisle airliner.
Of these though, there are 5, soon to be 6 airlines that fly the newest iteration, the
737 MAX.
They are Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, Flair Airlines, Lynx Air, and soon, Swoop.
What’s interesting though is that when you look at all of Canada’s airlines, the number
of 737 MAX operators greatly outnumbers those flying the Airbus A320neo family.
That single neo operator is Air Transat of Montreal, Quebec.
In a world where the market for commercial airliners is increasingly leaning towards
Airbus, why does Boeing seem to have such a foothold here in Canada, at least in the
single aisle segment?
Well, unlike the older 737-200 models still working hard up north, there isn’t exactly
one singular reason why the 737 MAX is so popular, aside from the obvious benefits of
improved fuel efficiency and lower costs for airlines.
So, for this, it’s best to look at each airline individually.
Ultra low-cost start-up Lynx Air took delivery of their first MAX just last month, with another
two expected to join in the next few weeks.
They’ll be launching flights in April, and according to Lynx, they have commitments in
place for up to 46 737 MAXs over the next seven years.
Having brand new aircraft is unusual for a start-up, but in Lynx Air’s case, they have
some significant financial backing from Indigo Partners.
That’s the same investment company behind literally hundreds of Airbus A320 family orders
for their portfolio airlines like Wizz Air, Frontier, Volaris, and JetSmart.
Although these are all A320 operators, Lynx Air does have some prior experience with 737s,
from their time as charter carrier Enerjet.
Considering that the A320neo family is reportedly sold out until 2025, that, along with some
more timely delivery slots for 737 MAXs, is likely why Lynx has gone the MAX route.
And for Lynx, as well as other airlines entering the market right now, time is of the essence,
since lower costs for aircraft, labour, and other contracts have created opportunities
for many new entrants to get their foot in the door.
With fellow ultra-low cost carrier Flair Airlines, it was a similar situation.
Though they had flown 737s for years, both Classics and NGs, throughout the course of
2020 they had scaled back to just three 737-800s.
In January of 2021, Flair announced that they’d be adding 13 737 MAX 8s to the fleet, and
started flying the first of these just 5 months later.
These MAXs are leased from 777 Partners, one of Flair’s investors, and this initial agreement
for 13 aircraft has since been topped up, with the airline now expecting to grow to
a fleet of 30 airplanes by mid-2023.
It’s worth mentioning though that Flair’s initial 13 MAXs are all white-tail planes,
meaning they were originally built for different customers that ended up not taking delivery
for one reason or another.
So, in Flair’s case, the short delivery times for these aircraft meant that they could
ramp up operations very quickly and they did indeed do so throughout the summer of 2021.
In that way, they were able to take advantage of the state of the industry early last year
and avoid long waiting times for some brand new and very competitive airplanes.
With their all-economy layout, Flair says that these MAXs allow them “to achieve the
lowest cost per seat mile of any Canadian airline”.
Meanwhile, in the case of WestJet and Sunwing, both airlines already had a history of flying
the 737 Next Generation, and so ordering the MAX seemed to be a pretty straightforward
decision.
WestJet’s initial MAX order in 2013 was for 65 MAXs, and according to the Canadian
Press, a spokesperson for WestJet said that they did look at the CSeries and A320, but
that “‘At the end of the day, the piece that excited us about the Boeing MAX is the
commonality with what we have today’”.
For Sunwing, the increased range of the MAX also allowed them to fly their longest routes
- such as those from Western Canada to the Caribbean - at full capacity, rather than
having to leave some seats empty on their existing 737-800s.
And as for WestJet’s low-cost subsidiary Swoop, who’s ordered 6 MAX 8s for delivery
by this summer, that decision was no doubt a combination of commonality and quick aircraft
availability.
So, given the MAX’s advantages in commonality with existing 737 operators, it came as a
bit of a surprise in late 2013 when Air Canada ordered 61 737 MAXs - a mixture of MAX 8s
and MAX 9s.
Air Canada is a long-time operator of the Airbus A320 family, having received their
first one back in January of 1990.
Over the years, they’ve operated well over 100 individual Airbus A320 family aircraft,
and continue to fly a considerable number to this day.
So, about 10 years ago when Air Canada was looking to renew their North American narrowbody
fleet, logically, it would make sense for them to stick with Airbus.
Even just a few days before the MAX order was announced, it was reported that Air Canada
was “poised” to make an order for the A320neo family.
This turned out to be a rare case of an airline switching between aircraft manufacturers,
which is something that’s generally avoided in the industry due to the increased costs
of training, parts, and maintenance.
As a result, Boeing likely offered the MAX to Air Canada at a significant discount in
order to sweeten the deal.
This agreement also allowed for Boeing to “purchase up to 20 of the 45 Embraer 190
aircraft [that were] in Air Canada’s fleet”.
Along with that, when the deal was announced in mid-December 2013, Air Canada’s first
Boeing 787 deliveries were nearly 4 years behind schedule.
So, it’s very possible that some form of compensation made its way into the MAX deal
as well.
Nevertheless, this order has been tweaked slightly over the years with various adjustments
depending on the airline’s needs, including the cancellation of the MAX 9 part of the
order.
Even now, with some of the A320s and all of their A321s still flying today, and them now
looking closely at some new A321neos, Air Canada seems to be fine with operating more
of a mixed fleet.
It’s clear that the 737 MAX still plays a critical role in Air Canada’s fleet, and
these MAX 8s are seen all across their network, reaching as far east as Europe and as far
west as the Hawaiian islands.
So, given the 737’s rich history here in this country, Canada is a unique case where,
at certain airports, you can see both a 737-200 and a 737 MAX taking off within minutes of
each other!
With the 737 MAX now well established with Canadian airlines, and with even more growth
planned over the next few years, it’s safe to say that the Boeing 737 will be flying
in Canada for a long time to come.
Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you in the next one.